Crossed the Border today

We made it Lewistown, MT today, weather was great, and the border crossing was okay, the border guard we encountered was very grumpy, must have been having a bad day.  He asked questions that were not necessary, e.g. how come you are so late crossing the border, you usually cross earlier, it was not so much the question but the attitude, plus other comments he made, e.g. “how come you are going to AZ, it gets too hot there, I used to live there…” , he was just surly.  Woody smiled and answered his questions and thanked him for his concern for our welfare.  Just past Great Falls I heard a noise coming from the front of the truck, told Woody to stop the truck (he couldn’t hear it with his hearing aids), so we pulled over, lifted the hood and lo and behold the new fan belt was fraying, wow did not expect that, Woody cut off the frayed piece and we carried on, wondering what could be causing the new belt to fray and praying we would reach Lewistown before the fan belt totally frayed which we did of course.   One more stop to cut of another piece that frayed and that was it.  Another Guardian Angel came to our rescue in Lewistown, Mike who manages the campground is an auto mechanic and airplane mechanic, after hearing our story regarding the fan belt he took a look and found the belt tensioner was worn out which he replaced for us, we even got a discount of the parts, now I know the Good Lord is looking after us.  We spent a couple of nights in Lewistown and left praying that would be the end of issues with the truck.

Still in Milk River

We are still in Milk River!  It snowed then the weather turned very cold (-30 C -25 F with wind chill), winds blowing from the west with gusts up to 100 km per hour).  The water pump in the fifth wheel quit so Woody was going to drive to Lethbridge to buy a new one, the truck would not start even though we had it plugged in, Ron who manages the Campground came over to boost the truck, no way, the batteries started to smoke so the batteries are froze, it is Saturday, nothing open until Monday, so we sit with no wheels to go anywhere, not a good feeling.  We were lucky that Ron came to our rescue and checked in everyday, he took Woody for propane, groceries, and to make appointment to fix the truck. We never take many groceries when crossing the border, there are so many items that are not allowed we find it easier to shop once across the border. Good thing the campground has showers in a heated building, we can get water from the taps there because the water tap we should be able to use to fill our tanks is frozen.   Monday they towed the truck to the garage to thaw, replaced the batteries and after Woody picked up the truck we decided he would drive to Lethbridge on Tuesday to pick up a new water pump, it was still too cold to travel and risk the fifth wheel freezing up, as long as we stayed put, the furnace keeps the tanks heated, uses lots of propane but at least we are warm.  I am wondering if we will ever get out of here, I am thinking maybe the Good Lord just does not want us to head south this winter; Woody assures me that all will be okay and we will make it to AZ. On Tuesday the weather had warmed up so off to Lethbridge Woody goes, receives a phone call from the garage telling him the fan belt was starting to fray (they had forgotten to tell him yesterday) so he took the truck in on Wednesday to get that replaced, no point in taking any chances.  The snow has melted and we are enjoying sunny warm (11.9 C/53 F) weather, I called daughter Tracy as I did every night since arriving at Milk River for a weather forecast, weather is good south so plan on leaving tomorrow.

Made it to Milk River

Drove to Milk River, AB today, great weather and we drove in and out of snowy areas all the way but the highways were dry for the most part.  The campground in Milk River does not have Wi-Fi or TV so I called daughter Tracy for a weather report for Lewistown, MT our next stop, not good major winter storm until Saturday, guess we will be stuck here for a couple of days.

Delay in trip south

Well our planned get away to AZ has been quite an experience this fall between weather and other issues.  We decided to stay for the November Onoway Fish and Game Monthly (second Tuesday of the month) meeting in hopes of getting an agreement signed for next year working at Imrie Park as we have done for the last three years which didn’t happen.  We were assured that we were definitely wanted back but until they received the budget which won’t happen until February or later the agreement could not be signed.  The club is going through some hard changes right now and they are hopeful the club will be running smoothly again after the elections in March.  Wish we could be home for the elections but that is not possible unless of course we end up staying here for the winter and I am not sure how I feel about that right now, part of me says find a place and hang out here for the winter and the other part is screaming to get out of here.  The weather turned against us November 10, the day we planned to leave with high winds, then we had an propane issue, more weather issues, and yesterday after hooking up the lights on the fifth wheel were not working properly so we stopped at Dale’s (Country Automotive) in Onoway and the mechanics found the module that controls the lights was not working correctly, so they had to order the module which would take overnight luckily our friend Ron Johnson offered his yard to park overnight which was awesome, we are hooked up to power, warm and comfortable.  I am a nervous wreck, my stomach is in knots wondering what will happen next and wondering if we should stay here or attempt to go south, for some reason I have had a bad feeling about this trip south for a long time.